It's scary and painful to be so sick and it's understandable that you look for something to hold on to.
You're not going to find real strength and comfort in religion or spiritualism or any such thing though. It's a temporary fix, just like drugs or alcohol.
Sometimes reality is unbearably hard to deal with, and then magic is an easy escape from the painful real world.
But I think there's more permanent comfort in finding other people who will support you through the reality of life, rather than people who want to sell you "magic drugs". The magic pushers certainly mean well, but that doesn't make it less harmful.

This is a good place to find real, genuine, human support. Hopefully along with good medical support and friends and family at home.
You are always welcome to share your thoughts and feelings here, and I know from experience that people here are incredibly sweet and caring.

"I believe that while not all people are essentially good, most are trying" - Adam Savage

Hi Dworkin, it's really reassuring to find somebody else who has been in a similar situation. You're right, we're very vulnerable to religion / spirituality. It's difficult because these folks are essentially offering (false) hope it's so hard to turn away from that. Out of curiousity, what made you quit being a Catholic? Was there one particular thing or was it just a slow process?

LadyDay - thanks for writing such a welcoming post, it's good to know I have a place to vent I guess what's so hard to walk away from is the feeling that maybe the religion / spirituality pushers might have the solution, that I could be walking away from my own healing. Irrational, I know. Hopefully it will go away with time.

I can't speak for religious communities but a big thing in the new-age scene is that all illness is caused by something spiritual (bad karma, negative thinking, blocked energies) and is essentially self-inflicted, so there's a whole guilt-tripping, victim-blaming thing going on. The way cancer sufferers were being treated on new-age forums is a big part of what made me start to question it. Just an added layer of bullshit to extract myself from.

I kind of have some experience with the situation you are going through. I have an interest in religion for as long as I could remember. I just think they are absolutely fascinating, things from organized religion to new age spirituality.

There had been many times that I tried to believe it, especially when dark time came around. Law of attraction, crystal healing, and all these stuff in the end didn't do anything for me. I can say for a fact that I had relapsed as an Atheist to fully embrace these new age spirituality because it is not rigid like religion, but ultimately it is still a waste of time and money. All these new age things offer little "gadgets" that cost fortunes sometimes. Law of attraction failed me, crystal didn't heal me, meditation to find my spirit guide yield nothing more than maybe a bit of peace and a back ache.

At the end of the day is what you choose to do. Some people are okay with the comfort of spirituality and religion even if they are flat out false. But my need to seek for truth went beyond religion and I realized only science can offer any real insights of the world we live in.

If you want to let go of all these spiritual things, than take a break from it. And when you are ready, go through it one at a time and demand if there is any empirical evidence to back it up. See if people life truly transformed or they just think it did. Ask questions and investigate, do not simply believe what was written, because much written in this area of writing are fiction and BS.

It sounds to me like becoming ill was the catalyst that turned you from atheism and to look at the other direction into exploring belief sets, maybe looking for something that can help you, cure you, make you feel better and to give you an answer as to why you may have become ill.

There are many fascinating things to read as I too have "gone down the rabbit hole" and looked into the realms of conspiracy, which has many new age beliefs and philosophies intertwined in the background. Things that sound interesting, with many of them purporting a link to "healing" like crystals, activating the kundalini, aligning and getting your chakras fully activated etc etc. Its no wonder that with you being poorly, you would consider trying these things or exploring them to see if any give you help.

As a hypnotherapist I have done a few "past life regressions" on people. I personally dont believe in them and only did them upon request and for no charge but they are no different to the ones you would of done via self hypnosis (relaxing the body, the mind, visualisations) by listening to a guided meditation on youtube or some other site.

It has been alleged that people who believe in god recover faster from illness than those who have no belief. Im sure you may have come across such articles and from a scientific perspective I think there is probably so many parameters to take into account that I personally don't think it can be tested accurately. However as has been touched already in this thread is the power of placebo. Western beliefs see the body and mind as almost seperate things, whilst eastern philosophy is more swayed towards a closer connection. There is nothing wrong with having belief in yourself, your own thoughts and your own actions, however I see putting belief in other things as "middlemen" to your own consciousness. Some can be handy tools at times.

With the "power of attraction" you are basically repeating a mantra, which given time and practise, will reprogram the way you see the world. If for a few months you repeat the mantra "I will bring more money into my life" then it is possible that you will consciously seek out more money making opportunities, you may play the lottery more, you may save loose change, money will be all you will think about, it will become a habit. Its no different to succesful entrepreneurs making a success of their passion, living and breathing what they want to achieve through determination, hard work and more importantly focus.

Im only ten years older than you and believe me I have flip flopped through different belief systems and I have no doubt that this is a continuing process as I will continue to evolve and see things from other differing perspectives through lifes experiences, evidence and memories. It happens to everybody, we all at one point probably believed in santa, many here at one point would of believed in god, some of us would have been scared of monsters through childhood, but these things come and go, life changes constantly and so does how we see everything.

There is a part of you that you described deep down as not believing, this, to me at least in my opinion, is the logical part of you. The part that keeps going back to it is the emotional side of you, the part that WANTS something to help, to heal, to gives answers as to why and to give guidance, to give a cure that medicine cannot provide.

You have to find a balance between the human part of you (logic) and the primitive side of you (emotion) If you find "woo" is not helping or giving you answers, then consider looking to more scientific and "realistic" ways, like self help books, philosophy, understanding how science understands the brain and neurochemistry, what makes you tick as a person.

I feel so much, and yet I feel nothing.
I am a rock, I am the sky, the birds and the trees and everything beyond.
I am the wind, in the fields in which I roar. I am the water, in which I drown.

(11-08-2016 03:30 PM)Elexis Wrote: Hi Dworkin, it's really reassuring to find somebody else who has been in a similar situation. You're right, we're very vulnerable to religion / spirituality. It's difficult because these folks are essentially offering (false) hope it's so hard to turn away from that. Out of curiousity, what made you quit being a Catholic? Was there one particular thing or was it just a slow process?

Elexis,

That is a very good question.

OK, I tried twice, with a few years in between. Did the course and meetings, went to mass etc.

The actual church building made me feel better, the mass was comforting, and the idea of getting forgiven for some deep stuff in my youth (father hate) through confession. I was ripe for the whole thing.

Both times I balked at exactly the same point, near the end of the induction process. I could not say that Jesus is the son of God. Crazy, I could accept everything about Catholicism except the Jesus bit!

Hi Elexis
I wish I had words to help you, but the best I can offer is an ear.

I can't really relate, as I just do what I do...people around me can like who I am or not, I'm not going to pretend to be someone just to make or keep a friend. That's not to say I don't care if I'm liked- certainly I'd rather be liked than disliked. But if I'm not being myself, my "friends" aren't liking the real me, anyway.
If you truly aren't happy with who you are, as a religious person, change. It really is that simple. Just change. It's only a big deal if you make it a big deal, it's only difficult if you make it difficult.
You sound like a very intelligent person. Do you really believe a bunch of rocks can cure your disease or give you energy or focus energy so you can use it? If that were real, don't you think human beings would have completely exploited that by now? Crystals would be highly valued and expensive, for one thing.
Of course you don't believe that drivel. You think you do because you really need comfort- that's precisely why religion came into being in the first place, to explain those creepy bumps in the night. As we learn what those bumps really are, religion recedes. If you come to terms with WHY you want to believe in healing rocks and pyramids and whatever else you believe- I'm not familiar with woo- I have no doubt your need will fade.

Don't spend all of your time talking about what you're going to do, or planning how to do it, or seeking advice about the most efficient way to do it...that is exactly why governments never accomplish anything of note. Just do it. I'm firmly with Banjo and Nike on this.

A friend of mine became atheist after a long battle with the idea...she basically set 10 tasks for god, if you will. Nothing like "grow my missing leg back", just ordinary things she would pray for on an ordinary day. She gave it a month, and after a month she graded her progress. She had 0 out of 10. Now, a preacher would have a field day with this...with proof there is no faith, etc- damned convenient. But you aren't trying to convince a preacher, just yourself. The test is just to determine whether or not you derive any tangible benefit from your belief system. It can be anything that makes sense to you. Give that a try, if you think it might help...but my best advice is just to admit why you really want this craziness to be legitimate so you can let it go.

I'm a better ear than a mouth at times like this, but I hope something useful tumbled out.

Always here if you need an ear! (or a poet)

The following 2 users Like The Dark One's post:2 users Like The Dark One's postPaleophyte (12-08-2016), Fireball (15-08-2016)